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AraTeran
Maybe he is just stressed out from the sudden move. I had to do an emergency transfer of some fish after my old tank started leaking badly, and it definitely freaked the fish out even after transferring water and media. They calmed down after about a week.

How old is he?


Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. He is starting to swim around a bit more, which makes me happy.

I don't know how old he is. But, I've had him for nearly a year now, somewhere around 9, maybe 10 months. He's fully grown, but still kinda small, at least compared to my previous betta. He's a Half Moon Betta. I'll get a picture of him to show you. But this is what he kinda looks like.

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Maybe he is just stressed out from the sudden move. I had to do an emergency transfer of some fish after my old tank started leaking badly, and it definitely freaked the fish out even after transferring water and media. They calmed down after about a week.

How old is he?
Krissim Klaw
Shanna66

bubble nests are one of those things where everyone will give you a different answer

ive seen bettas make them in those tiny pet store cups so im of the belief that its just their biology telling them to build them rather than them being happy. but who knows, they may have been happy when they decided to make the nests. there isnt really a great way to tell unless you teach your betta to talk lol
I feel like my initial post is being slightly misunderstood. I don't think bubble nests equal a magic happiness level meter. Of course the desire to make them is related to biology just like the feeling of happiness/content/endorphins/ect is all part of biology.

I made the initial statement because, male bettas often put a lot of effort into making and maintaining their bubble nests. A bubble nest is their hope for future procreation, which is why they will protect them and make them even if they don't seen a girl even once. At the same time, a bubble nest isn't necessary for survival. Thus seeing a boy expending energy putting a nice size one down and maintaining it, means he has a certain amount of vigor left and can be a indicator you are meeting his conditions well and he is a content, stress free fish.

Loosing the nest however goes against their so called biology. It would be another stressor. He lost his territory, he lost his nest, ect. Hence my line about pouting, unhappy, stressed out little guy.


I must have read your post wrong then. That makes sense. Thanks for the info! biggrin In a couple of weeks my tank should be cycled enough for him to go back in it and hopefully he'll go back to his normal self. He seems a bit better today, swimming around a bit more. But he still is lying on the bottom of the tank quite a bit. Reminds me of those poor little one's you see in the small cups at a pet store. Bored out of their minds with very little room to do anything.
Shanna66

bubble nests are one of those things where everyone will give you a different answer

ive seen bettas make them in those tiny pet store cups so im of the belief that its just their biology telling them to build them rather than them being happy. but who knows, they may have been happy when they decided to make the nests. there isnt really a great way to tell unless you teach your betta to talk lol
I feel like my initial post is being slightly misunderstood. I don't think bubble nests equal a magic happiness level meter. Of course the desire to make them is related to biology just like the feeling of happiness/content/endorphins/ect is all part of biology.

I made the initial statement because, male bettas often put a lot of effort into making and maintaining their bubble nests. A bubble nest is their hope for future procreation, which is why they will protect them and make them even if they don't seen a girl even once. At the same time, a bubble nest isn't necessary for survival. Thus seeing a boy expending energy putting a nice size one down and maintaining it, means he has a certain amount of vigor left and can be a indicator you are meeting his conditions well and he is a content, stress free fish.

Loosing the nest however goes against their so called biology. It would be another stressor. He lost his territory, he lost his nest, ect. Hence my line about pouting, unhappy, stressed out little guy.
Shanna66


bubble nests are one of those things where everyone will give you a different answer

ive seen bettas make them in those tiny pet store cups so im of the belief that its just their biology telling them to build them rather than them being happy. but who knows, they may have been happy when they decided to make the nests. there isnt really a great way to tell unless you teach your betta to talk lol


True. It would be cool if they did. 3nodding

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Stacee Jaxx
Bubble nests aren't a sign of happiness or any other emotion. It's just like a random thing.

Also you should not have him with ghost shrimp because they like to tear delicate betta fins. The snails are probably adding to the ammonia build up, because a 5 gallon is like basically just enough for a Betta. So maybe do more frequent water changes?

You should also get a test kit to test your water, so then you can keep up with ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels.

But if you need better help check out http://kai-ni.tumblr.com/
she is the Betta info goddess


I heard that bubble nests mean that the Betta is happy. But I will do more research on that.

As for my ghost shrimp, they never did anything to my Betta. They lived happily in the tank together for nearly a year now. They never bothered him and he never bothered them.

I don't know if you read my post correctly. I normally have him in a 10 gallon tank, but he is in the 5 gallon tank right now as I am cycling a new 10 gallon tank when my old my blew. So, he is only in there temporarily. The snails are not in there with him. He is by himself. I have the test kit and I have done the test in the water he is in now. Everything is normal: ie - ammonia - 0, nitrate - 30ppm and nitrite - 0.

I will check out the Betta Info Goddess, thanks! smile

Edit: Found this link about bubble nests. It can mean that they are happy/healthy.

Betta Fish Bubble Nests


bubble nests are one of those things where everyone will give you a different answer

ive seen bettas make them in those tiny pet store cups so im of the belief that its just their biology telling them to build them rather than them being happy. but who knows, they may have been happy when they decided to make the nests. there isnt really a great way to tell unless you teach your betta to talk lol
Stacee Jaxx
Bubble nests aren't a sign of happiness or any other emotion. It's just like a random thing.

Also you should not have him with ghost shrimp because they like to tear delicate betta fins. The snails are probably adding to the ammonia build up, because a 5 gallon is like basically just enough for a Betta. So maybe do more frequent water changes?

You should also get a test kit to test your water, so then you can keep up with ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels.

But if you need better help check out http://kai-ni.tumblr.com/
she is the Betta info goddess


I heard that bubble nests mean that the Betta is happy. But I will do more research on that.

As for my ghost shrimp, they never did anything to my Betta. They lived happily in the tank together for nearly a year now. They never bothered him and he never bothered them.

I don't know if you read my post correctly. I normally have him in a 10 gallon tank, but he is in the 5 gallon tank right now as I am cycling a new 10 gallon tank when my old my blew. So, he is only in there temporarily. The snails are not in there with him. He is by himself. I have the test kit and I have done the test in the water he is in now. Everything is normal: ie - ammonia - 0, nitrate - 30ppm and nitrite - 0.

I will check out the Betta Info Goddess, thanks! smile

Edit: Found this link about bubble nests. It can mean that they are happy/healthy.

Betta Fish Bubble Nests

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Bubble nests aren't a sign of happiness or any other emotion. It's just like a random thing.

Also you should not have him with ghost shrimp because they like to tear delicate betta fins. The snails are probably adding to the ammonia build up, because a 5 gallon is like basically just enough for a Betta. So maybe do more frequent water changes?

You should also get a test kit to test your water, so then you can keep up with ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels.

But if you need better help check out http://kai-ni.tumblr.com/
she is the Betta info goddess
Krissim Klaw
A sudden transfer like that can be pretty stressful for a fish. He may also be pouting some since he lost his bubble nest.


I hope, hope, hope it is because he lost his bubble nest. It was a beautiful bubble nest if I do say so myself. I feel sad when he's bummed out like this. He used to be so lively and cheerful. Now, he did loose all of the shrimp that were in the tank with him. He was always a sweet betta, never hurt anything that I put in the tank with him. Do you think he misses the company?
A sudden transfer like that can be pretty stressful for a fish. He may also be pouting some since he lost his bubble nest.
Shanna66
he may just be stressed because of the move and being in a smaller tank assuming your water and temps are good


Thanks. I'm going to do the water tests today and hopefully I can make him more comfortable. It makes me kinda sad to see him so bummed out compared to normal.
Savage Destiny
Did you transfer over the filter media and gravel?

If not, the tank is cycling, and he's suffering through the effects of that. You should test the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.


I did transfer over some of the gravel and plants and such. I took part of the filter media and put it in the tank he is in now and part of it with the one that is cycling to help speed up the process.

I will be doing the tests today. Thanks. smile

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he may just be stressed because of the move and being in a smaller tank assuming your water and temps are good

Eloquent Gawker

Did you transfer over the filter media and gravel?

If not, the tank is cycling, and he's suffering through the effects of that. You should test the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.
**Warning** Long post ahead. xp

Back story:

Okay, so I had a previous forum explaining that while I was cleaning one of my 10 gallon tanks, the bottom blew out on me and so I was forced to get a new one a.s.a.p. Since I didn't want to buy a new one for $75.00, when I still had all of the equipment and just needed the tank, my father got me a used one for free from a friend of his. I got some advice on here about cleaning it out and cycling it like I would a new tank. So that is what it is doing now, I have it all set up and cycling with a couple of small shrimp in a net, as I don't like to do 'live-cycling', I think it's cruel. Which means that my fish that was living in my now exploded tank is forced to live in a much smaller holding tank then he is used too.

However....there is a problem.



Mussolini, my betta is not a happy camper. Normally he is in the 10 gallon tank with several snails and ghost shrimp. He was really happy and would swim about the tank and explore. He played with a few of the betta toys he has and would always follow me around the tank when I walked passed. He would be veracious for food and happily blow his little bubble nest in the corner. But since I am waiting for the new tank to cycle, he is in a smaller 5 gallon tank. It is heated to the normal temperature that I have him at, which is 78 degree's F. The water has been treated and dechlorinated. I used at least half of the water from his old tank (before it blew), so there was really only about a 40 % - 50% water change. The Ph of the water is 7.0, so it is within normal range. I've put some of the plants/things from his old tank in with him and the other stuff is in the new tank to help cycle it a bit faster.

Anyway! When I say Mussolini is not happy, it is because he isn't acting like himself. Instead of swimming about up at the top and just acting normal, he is at the bottom corner of the tank, doing nothing. I've caught him several times just floating at the bottom in the corner, under a part of a plant. When I go to feed him (twice a day, betta pellets or freeze dried blood worms), he doesn't come up to eat like normal. He either waits a few minutes, comes up, eats a bit and then ignores the normal amount of food he would eat, or he doesn't eat at all and I have to scoop out the food. I've tried not feeding him for a day and then trying again, but he either doesn't eat all of it, or ignores it. I fed him less last night and this morning there were still two pellets floating around, so I pulled them out.

Does anyone have any idea's as to why he's not happy? I mean, I guess he could miss the big tank, but I mean, it's not like he's in a tiny cup. I don't see anything abnormal that would suggest disease. I hope someone can suggest something to help make him feel better. The snails are in the tank with him, but sadly, my shrimp died when the tank blew, as I had not gotten them out yet.

Thanks for reading!

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